report
Despite overcoming Niigata, issues emerged
Yamanashi Queen Beads 61-60 Niigata (neutral held)
Score/missed broadcast
Good performance in the first half and struggle in the second half. The match was like a roller coaster, with the team rising and falling rapidly, and finally managing to escape with a narrow margin of 61-60.
In the first quarter, an offense that moved the ball and people in tandem and a thorough awareness of rebounding worked together, leading the team to 16-9 as the game ended.
He remained active even in the second quarter, functioning on both offense and defense. At the end of the first half, they had a 14-point lead, 36-22. They dominated in rebounding, 28-15, and recorded a 70% success rate on 2-point shooting, allowing the game to progress at their own pace.
Early in the third quarter, the lead expanded to 18 points, the largest of the day, but Niigata’s zone defense became effective from there. The Queen Bees lacked an attacking force and gradually lost momentum to Niigata. They allowed fast breaks from rebounds more frequently, and with three minutes remaining, the deficit was down to just five points. Although they maintained a 45-40 lead, a clear problem became apparent in the final stages.
Niigata’s momentum continued in the final 4th quarter, and at one point they were down to 2 points, 45-42. However, Aika Watanabe and her superiorMinaThey showed their tenacity to extend their lead once again to 57-48. At the end, SakataYukinaHis three-pointer made it 61-60, but neither team allowed a point after that, and the Queenbees held on to their lead.
In the first half, they dominated the game with their rebounding and high shooting success rate, but in the second half, dealing with zone defense became a major issue. Their 2-point shooting success rate, which was 70% in the first half, dropped to 4/15 (26%) in the second half. In particular, their offensive rebounds were overwhelmed by Niigata’s defensive rebounds (17), and they were unable to create second chances. This was a factor that allowed Niigata to counterattack.
In today’s match, Tokyo Haneda lost to Mitsubishi Electric and the leaders changed hands, and 6th place Himeji defeated 4th place Aranmare Akita, making future matches unpredictable.
Tomorrow’s opponent will be Alanmare Akita, who are expected to play fiercely from the beginning after today’s loss. The key to victory is not allowing the opponent to lose their rhythm at the beginning of the match, and developing energetic plays without being passive. How much can the team fix the issues in the second half?
The queen bee’s advance continues! !
Head coach/player talk
Sachiko Ishikawa Head Coach
I’m glad I won. However, today’s match was a very difficult one, with both the first half and the second half having good and bad performances. In particular, dealing with zone defense has emerged as an issue. There were times when they moved the ball and attacked, but their movement stopped midway through, often allowing the opponent to make quick attacks. As a result, there were many scenes where we allowed our opponents to score easily. One of the reasons for our victory was that we were able to get a lot of rebounds, but it is also true that our pace slowed down in the second half. I feel that there are still many things that need to be corrected.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, we would like to aim for an offense that creates quick developments at our own pace, based on defense and rebounding. It is also important that we continue to fight aggressively both offensively and defensively throughout the 40 minutes. There were a lot of scenes where I got weak and made pass mistakes, and there were a lot of scenes where I became passive against the opponent’s attacks, so I want to make sure to improve on that.
The match will never go easily, and it will not be carried out in a clean manner. Rebounding dropped shots and tenacity for loose balls are the difference between winning and losing. Tomorrow, I will do my best and be determined to fight until the end.
Captain Momoko Inoue
It was a very dangerous match today. In particular, a major issue is that the offense against the zone defense did not work and the team stopped scoring. We have faced similar situations in previous matches against Mitsubishi, and I feel that this is a common area for improvement as a team. There is a high possibility that we will use the zone in tomorrow’s match against Akita, so we will look back on today’s match and make adjustments.
In the first half, we were able to create quick breaks with our aggressive defense, which was good. Also, Niigata is a team that specializes in offensive rebounds, but they were able to suppress that and secure defensive rebounds, which led to their lead in the first half. However, in the second half, we had to deal with zone play, and I feel like we need to improve on the fact that we were unable to play consistently for 40 minutes.
How the game ends and how each period begins and ends is very important. Although we were glad to win today’s match, there were times when we made a few mistakes that allowed our opponent to gain momentum. While being aggressive, we need to respond more carefully to these areas.
Tomorrow, we will do our best to be prepared and play aggressive baskets from the first half, while also being able to respond well should the opponent change their defense.
Aika Watanabe
I was pretty scared at the end. We still had to deal with the zone defense, and I think we were able to win the game just in the nick of time. I felt that I needed to develop the ability to respond flexibly to any type of defense, whether the opponent was playing zone or man-to-man.
It was good that we were able to extend our lead in the early stages of the match, but there were times when we became impatient when our opponent stepped up. In these situations, I think it’s important for everyone to regain their composure and control the match themselves, rather than just relying on the guards.
Tomorrow’s match against Akita will be a disappointing one, as we lost in our last match, so we want to do our best to defend our team and repay our debt. We still have a chance to aim higher, so we will do everything we need to do from beginning to end and strive for victory.
Personally, I have regrets about not being able to take shots under the goal and not being able to get rebounds in important situations. I think it was a match that could have been won more easily, so I would like to improve on that area and move on to the next match.
